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Dark Muse: A Novel
Blurb
People don’t live. Only stories live.
"Jack Mathis, a bright young book editor in Chicago, has
found the next great American writer. Yet this anonymous genius is inspired to
create in the darkest way imaginable: he picks his victims carefully, murders
them gruesomely, then gives them new life in the best stories Jack has ever
read.
The writer knows all about Jack. All about his wife. Knows
everything.
He has more stories in mind, too.
Jack wants them.
But what is he willing to do to get them? "
Excerpt
"“What are you doing to me?” the young man asked Cordell.
He was looking straight up at him, and Cordell could see him
plainly, as far down as he was, because of the lights overhead, while he himself was no more than a shadow, he knew, a silhouette backlit by the brightness.
“Well?” the young man asked. “Well?”
His hands were still caught behind him with the tie-downs,
and his feet still bound, too. But he was standing. Cordell had dropped him feet first into the well.
“Why are you doing this?” the young man demanded. “Just tell me. What did I do? You want me to be scared? You got me scared. I am good and scared.”
Cordell said to him, “You remember the Oakland earthquake in
1989?”
“No, I don’t. Come on, I was a kid.”
“Quite a few people died. Part of an overpass collapsed. You
know, they have to clear away the concrete and steel and whatever holds up these roads, and then they have to deal with whatever’s left of the people who were crushed to death. Can you imagine what they felt, looking at what was left of people who had an entire road fall onto them? What happens when a person is trapped inside a tin can and a slab of concrete as big as a skyscraper falls on
him?”
The young man in the well said, “I don’t know. I don’t have an answer. Why are you talking about this?”
“I couldn’t get rid of the image because what’s left doesn’t seem human after something like that happens. It’s garbage, basically. But this is what happens. People don’t last. People die. Stories last.” He stepped away from the well.
“Hey!” the young man yelled. “Where are you going?”
Cordell returned in a moment with a gasoline can. He tilted
it so that all of the gasoline poured into the well and all over the young man.
“Stop it! Stop it, stop it, don’t do this!”
Cordell struck the match.
“Buddy, don’t do it!”
He dropped the burning match into the well and immediately
backed away.
The young man’s screams were extremely loud and continued
for nearly a minute. "
People don’t live. Only stories live.
"Jack Mathis, a bright young book editor in Chicago, has
found the next great American writer. Yet this anonymous genius is inspired to
create in the darkest way imaginable: he picks his victims carefully, murders
them gruesomely, then gives them new life in the best stories Jack has ever
read.
The writer knows all about Jack. All about his wife. Knows
everything.
He has more stories in mind, too.
Jack wants them.
But what is he willing to do to get them? "
Excerpt
"“What are you doing to me?” the young man asked Cordell.
He was looking straight up at him, and Cordell could see him
plainly, as far down as he was, because of the lights overhead, while he himself was no more than a shadow, he knew, a silhouette backlit by the brightness.
“Well?” the young man asked. “Well?”
His hands were still caught behind him with the tie-downs,
and his feet still bound, too. But he was standing. Cordell had dropped him feet first into the well.
“Why are you doing this?” the young man demanded. “Just tell me. What did I do? You want me to be scared? You got me scared. I am good and scared.”
Cordell said to him, “You remember the Oakland earthquake in
1989?”
“No, I don’t. Come on, I was a kid.”
“Quite a few people died. Part of an overpass collapsed. You
know, they have to clear away the concrete and steel and whatever holds up these roads, and then they have to deal with whatever’s left of the people who were crushed to death. Can you imagine what they felt, looking at what was left of people who had an entire road fall onto them? What happens when a person is trapped inside a tin can and a slab of concrete as big as a skyscraper falls on
him?”
The young man in the well said, “I don’t know. I don’t have an answer. Why are you talking about this?”
“I couldn’t get rid of the image because what’s left doesn’t seem human after something like that happens. It’s garbage, basically. But this is what happens. People don’t last. People die. Stories last.” He stepped away from the well.
“Hey!” the young man yelled. “Where are you going?”
Cordell returned in a moment with a gasoline can. He tilted
it so that all of the gasoline poured into the well and all over the young man.
“Stop it! Stop it, stop it, don’t do this!”
Cordell struck the match.
“Buddy, don’t do it!”
He dropped the burning match into the well and immediately
backed away.
The young man’s screams were extremely loud and continued
for nearly a minute. "
222 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2012
1 person is currently reading
10 people want to read
About the author
David C. Smith
110 books45 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 7, 2022
This isn't the first book I've read about a writer killing for inspiration, but it is the first book I've read where the writer send stories anonymously to an editor. I write, so sure, I like stories about writers, editors, and stories.
This book is beautifully written, I mean like word dripping off the page sort of way (in some parts0>
The killings weren't very violent nor very detailed, but enough to add the spook factor to random people being chosen to be murdered.
The way the editor responded to the mentally unbalanced writer was totally surprising.
And the end? Heck yeah. Very decent. It was like sleight of hand. The author had me looking this way, when something totally is happening that way.
This book is beautifully written, I mean like word dripping off the page sort of way (in some parts0>
The killings weren't very violent nor very detailed, but enough to add the spook factor to random people being chosen to be murdered.
The way the editor responded to the mentally unbalanced writer was totally surprising.
And the end? Heck yeah. Very decent. It was like sleight of hand. The author had me looking this way, when something totally is happening that way.
March 27, 2014
I love discovering new authors. It's almost like when you're a kid at Christmas time and you unwrap a present you didn't necessarily know you wanted but are thrilled you received it. I discovered David C. Smith through friend and owner of Rickert and Beagle Books (in Dormont, PA), Chris Rickert. She invited me to a reading of one of his newer books, Dark Muse. Unfortunately, thanks to a dying car at the time, I wasn't able to make it, but I was interested enough in checking the book out. So I later purchased it from her store and began reading it almost immediately only to be left in shock when all was finished. And I will explain why I do mean that as a good thing.
Dark Muse begins with your typical "everyman", Jack Mathis. He has a decent job as a book editor, a beautiful fiancee (who is also pregnant with their child), and is on his way to carving his niche in life. When he begins to receive genius, yet horrifying, manuscripts at his office, he believes he has hit the jackpot that will make his publishing company a giant moneymaker and many of his co-workers agree. Jack goes out of his way to try and meet with the elusive writer of the stories and little does he know that he will end up with much more than he bargained for. He will also find out that the writer knows much more about Jack and his family than the writer should...
Dark Muse is a page turner. Plain and simple. I would categorize it as being a psychological thriller with some pretty horrifying scenes. Smith's writing is brilliant in the way he handles writing his characters to a point where they do seem like real people and there were times when I did put the book down to make sure all the doors to my place were locked. I very much recommend checking Dark Muse out. It isn't a gorefest by any means, but the storytelling is gripping and the ending did leave me sitting on my couch and staring ahead at the wall for a good few minutes before I was able to bring myself to move again.
I would like to thank Chris of Rickert and Beagle Books for my introduction to David C. Smith. I will be reading more from him in the future.
Dark Muse begins with your typical "everyman", Jack Mathis. He has a decent job as a book editor, a beautiful fiancee (who is also pregnant with their child), and is on his way to carving his niche in life. When he begins to receive genius, yet horrifying, manuscripts at his office, he believes he has hit the jackpot that will make his publishing company a giant moneymaker and many of his co-workers agree. Jack goes out of his way to try and meet with the elusive writer of the stories and little does he know that he will end up with much more than he bargained for. He will also find out that the writer knows much more about Jack and his family than the writer should...
Dark Muse is a page turner. Plain and simple. I would categorize it as being a psychological thriller with some pretty horrifying scenes. Smith's writing is brilliant in the way he handles writing his characters to a point where they do seem like real people and there were times when I did put the book down to make sure all the doors to my place were locked. I very much recommend checking Dark Muse out. It isn't a gorefest by any means, but the storytelling is gripping and the ending did leave me sitting on my couch and staring ahead at the wall for a good few minutes before I was able to bring myself to move again.
I would like to thank Chris of Rickert and Beagle Books for my introduction to David C. Smith. I will be reading more from him in the future.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews